The cross to bare
by RolePlayingWriter
Summary: Feyona is a whitemage who constantly doubts her strength and power. Taiyang is a ninja who feels he can never experience love and is left to a life of solitude and murder. This is their story of finding eachother's light in the darkness.
1. The Rendevous

Disclaimer: I don't own the final fantasy series. Square Enix does. Hell, you think I'd be writing this if I did? I'd be bathing in money!

**Chapter 1: The Rendevous**

"This hardly seems inviting…"

A lone hume female stood at the entrance of the gaping cave, having a conversation with her innerself. She was tall for a hume, with light brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in her finest Seer's robe and her short shorts. The weather had been unusually warm in Rolanberry fields and there was no doubt in the woman's mind that this cave that was looming over-head would be weighted down with humidity.

She looked around the entrance for any signs of movement. After a moment she figured her she must have been early for her appointment. She sat against the cave wall, setting her Blessed Hammer aside and allowing herself to relax with her thoughts. After letting out a sigh of content she rested her head on the cave wall. _Why did I come here again? _Her mind drifted to the events that had happened the day before.

"_Feyona…."_

_She had been so distracted with her prayers in the old San D'Orian catherderal to have even heard the approach of the tall elvaan. She quickly spun around to see the Papsque himself demanding her attention._

"_Oh! Forgive me, your holiness, my mind was wandering."_

_The elvaan smiled and raised a hand, silencing the young hume. "Please, let us drop the formalities, at least for one day?"_

"_I'm sorry sir-"_

"_Muchavette."_

"_ahem, SIR, but it is against my white mage code."_

_The elvaan sighed in defeat and laughed quietly under his breath. "My dear Feyona, earlier a dark knight came into the church, requesting the assistance of a white mage to accompany his team into the Crawler's Nest. The skill level required should be right up to par with your own. You're our best field white-mage so I am asking you to accept this task, that is, if you are interested."_

"_Of course, sir. May I ask whom this contact is?"_

"_He is an elvaan named Phate. Meet him outside the Crawler's Nest tomorrow at 12:00.:"_

"_As you wish."_

She opened her eyes, shooting herself out of the memory. She loved her job, even if she was never the fastest or strongest hume alive, she always had the power to save someone's life., or atleast to bring one back. However, over the last few months, it seemed her plate was always full. Since the rise of the beastmen, it seemed everyone everywhere required her skills, and even though she would gladly sacrifice her life to save another, she felt as if she had been spread too thin. It was the thought that she couldn't help everyone in the world that had begun to make her doubt her very skills. She had begun to suffer from sleeploss, and was constantly playing down her abilities despite the praise she received from her peers.

What had effected her the most was her best and only true friend had taken an expedition to Xacrabard with several other travelers… and only two had returned. None could offer solace to Feyona, for they suffered from amnesia. All they could remember was seeing their comrads bodies in the bloodstained snow. What killed her friend Darc and left those two alive they had no memory of. She was, once again, alone in the world.

"If only I had been there…" Feyona shut her eyes condemning herself for refusing the invitation. She knew exactly why she refused it to begin with, she was afraid of the demons that had been rumored to make residence in that area. And now her worse fears where confirmed. She sat in the silence of the cave, cursing her innerself, when she finally heard the loud clank of armour walking towards her. She opened her eyes, seeing a dark knight and four others walking in her direction. _Guess I'll mourn later._ She picked up her weapons and stood up straight, brushing some dirt off her legs..

"Ah! You must be the white-mage. My name is Phate. It's a pleasure!" The tall elvaan loomed over her, and even while bowing, he still seemed to have a good two feet on her.

"The pleasure is mine. I am Feyona. Please, save the formalities, I doubt we will need them in here." She smiled and bowed her head.

"Heh. Alright then! Let's get to it!" Phate raised his hands in a triumphant cry, with the other travelers egging him on in the background. Feyona smirked and allowed the adventurers to lead her into the tunnel. _Let the Crawler massacre begin. _

--------------Author's Notes:--------------------

Ok, I actually READ THROUGH the Chapter this time, lol. I didn't change much, just general punctuation and tenses. For the people who read it the first time and are curious about the update, it's nothing. (Proof Reading) (Do you need it?) (Yes, please.) I believe this is exactly why allows for reviews ) Keep the constructive criticism up!

Taiyang : HEY! This story ain't about you woman! It's about ME! Where am I!

Feyona : -.- You'll be introduced soon. Chillax.

Taiyang : Can't. It's a Tai thing.


	2. Scare me once, shame on you

Disclaimer: I don't own the final fantasy series. Square Enix does. Hell, you think I'd be writing this if I did? I'd be bathing in money!

**Chapter 2: Scare me once, shame on you. Scare me twice, shame on me.**

The day had gone on just as she expected. Phate and his companions were helping to "control" the over population of the crawlers. Her job was to heal their wounds so they wouldn't have to rest or be trampled by the over grown catapillars. However, there where two things she hadn't expected. One being the horrific stench a crawler corpse leaves behind, and after several dead crawlers and a pounding headache, she found herself wishing the cave was more ventilated.

But what had surprised her most was Phate himself. She had always envisioned dark-knights as rough, unfriendly, and comically dull people. Yet, this dark-knight was full of spirit. Between jokes about his wife and silly phrases while being chased by hordes of crawlers (Such as: MOM! Look what I found! IT follwed me Home! Can I keep 'em!) she found herself quite amused with this group. Furthermore, he made her feel like she fit in. He would include her in on conversations, randomly shoot a glances towards her, and cheer her on. She didn't feel like just another tag-along mage, she was as part of the group as he was. (Though she did feel embarrassed when he yelled "FEAR THE WHITE-MAGE IN SHORT SHORTS")

After several hours they decided to finally take a break.

The travelers shared stories of previous adventures, both serious and comical, while Feyona listened and rested her mp. Usually she'd take this time to think about all the screw-ups she had done in the past, but today she found herself more interested in the tales of glory and embarrassment of others. Phate had several remarkable stories, some consisting of being chased by thousands of rabbits in Palborough Mines, and others about how you should never poke a sleeping Jugner tiger. When all her mp was rested Feyona joined the circle to share a few stories of her own, including the time she caught an Ooze when fishing in Davoi and ended up jumping into the water while wearing all white gear to avoid certain death.

After Phate was done making commentary on her stories, he looked over at her.

"Hey Fey."

"Yes sir?"

"Hey! I thought you said no formalities… "

She giggled slightly. "Sorry, habit. Yea Phate?"

"You're a good whitemage, and seem like a damn good person. Wanna join my linkshell?"

Feyona frowned a little at this. _Linkshell… damn annoying things. Distractions are what they are_. Truth was she never got the hang of linkshells. They always seemed to break her concentration while focusing on a spell, plus she always forgot to turn the thing off and would constantly say things into the linkshell that weren't suppose to be said. Her comrades at the church called her "The Mistell Queen" because of this, and several embarrassing conversations had made her weary of the linkshell casabo.

Phate seemed to sense her tension and laughed out loud. "I didn't ask you to give me a kidney. Come on, its just a group of adventurers that like to do stuff together, plus-"

"We also like to wreak havoc on the world. Nothing wrong with a little chaos."

Feyona quickly turned her head to find the owner of the unfamiliar voice only see a single hume not too far away from her own position. Guessing from the armour and two katanas at his side, she presumed he was a ninja. He sat back in the shadows, his arm resting on his knee, head lookin down, and smooth brown hair flowing infront of his face with ease. _When did he appear? How long has he been there? Damnit I shouldn't have let my guard down._

Phate only chuckled at his comment, "Tai, don't ya have better things to do than stalk an old man and scare young mages?"

"He didn't SCARE me. Just… caught off guard." Startled the bejesus outta her would have been more honest.Feyona crossed her hands across her chest and tried to look as angry as possible.

The stranger known as 'Tai' stood up and turned to her. "Caught ya off guard, eh? Perhaps I should do it more often," then Feyona swore she had just witnessed the most devious smirk she'd ever seen grow on his face, "I'd like to see how 'innocent' white-mages truly are. I think I can corrupt her."

"Why you EGOTISTICAL, loud mouth, son of a-" Within the blink of an eye the stranger who was several feet away from her had appeared just inches infront of her face. Whatever courage anger had granted her seemed to disappear just as fast as she stood face to face with the ninja, frozen in fear and astonishment.

"Hm? You were saying?" He looked quite amused with the whole situation and waited for a reply. After a breif hesitation and pure silence from the girl, he turned over to Phate. "I like her. She's cute when she's angry. Give her a pearl."

"Tai, yer such an asshole sometimes." Phate said in a light chuckle and pulled out a pearl. _Phate's laughing? Is this suppose to be some kind of sick joke!_ "We're kinda busy Tai, but if wanna actually put your skills to USE, then we'll try and look for stone monuments, alright?"

"Yea. That's fine." Tai waved good bye to the dark-knight then turned around to a now infuriated white-mage. "Catch ya off guard later," he added with a smirk.

"I swear to you, you won't catch me off guard again." Feyona walked passed the ninja like he didn't exist and grabbed the pearl from the now amused dark-knight.

"We'll see," And with that, the ninja was gone.

Phate put a hand on Feyona's shoulder. "Don't let him creep ya out. He's playin with ya 'cuz he likes ya. If he didn't, he wouldn't have even acknowledged your existence."

"Yea, like us." Phate and Feyona turned around to see the other four members of their group just staring in amusement.

Feyona instantly blushed, realizing since the appearance of the ninja she had forgotten about the entire groupand mission, "Heh.. yea um… lets keep going killing some crawlers, aye?"

Within a few minutes, the group was back to crawler killing. The whole time all Feyona could think about where those eyes staring down at her. _Was he trying to provoke me? Why did he target ME out? He doesn't even KNOW me! _After three more hours they called it quits and left the cave. Feyona decided she was just not in the mood to travel to San D'Oria and instead headed to her moghouse in Jeuno. The other adventures dispersed but they couldn't help but make a mental note that after the encounter with the ninja, their white-mage seemed to triple the amount of damage inducing spells she casted…

---------Author's notes time!-----------------

Taiyang seems to know how to always get the best of me, including getting to my bad side. Hell, thinkin about it now I think the most common thing I say to him is not "I love you" but "Don't make me kill you!"

Trying to keep the chapters short, but I want them long enough ot be called chapters so each one retains its own ideas and impressions. It just adds more flair to the story I suppose.

And yes, I shout at tai A LOT. Its just part of our relationship I suppose.

--------More notes-----------------

Yea, Proof read this chapter to.Fix stuff. Once again, if you read through it once, nothing has changed except some punctuation and spellings. I smacked myself and promise to proofread the chapters BEFORE posting them from now on. ) If anyone wants to be a proof-reading buddy, feel free to either review or email me. I believe it is easier to proof read someone else's work versus your own.


	3. The Test

Disclaimer: If you missed the first 2 disclaimers, well, its still the same. I STILL don't own the final fantasy series. Square enix Still does. Sorry guys.

**Chapter 3: I never was good at tests.**

Feyona walked the streets of Jeuno later that evening, replaying the day's events over and over in her head. She couldn't figure out why the damned ninja had decided to target her. What did she do to him? Who did he think he was? _Egotistical jerk… If I ever see him again imma show him the true power of-_

"FEYONAAAAAAA!"

_Uh-no. Oh god no. Not right now._

"FEYYYY!"

She let out a defeated sigh as she turned around. Half way down the street a familiar figure was waving his arms and running in her direction_. I think the Goddess is trying to punish me…_Just as she'd fear, Drak was running towards her in full throttle.

Now, Feyona didn't HATE Drak, she just liked to avoid him. He had been after Feyona's hand in marriage since they were new adventurers. He had always been a good friend and ear when she needed him to be, but she never had "feelings" for him. However, even after 7 years, he was still just as much as a love-sick puppy as he was as a kid. She didn't hate him, or even remotely dislike him, she just found herself pitying him.

Finding whatever ounces of patience she had within her self, she faked a smile and waited for him to catch up.

"Fey! Hey! How are you? Haven't seen you in forever!"

"Oh, just the normal. Infact, I just got back from an adventure so… I think imma just go to mymoghouse and rest."

Drak wrapped his arm around Feyona's waiste "Nah, you should come hang out with me. We can go kill that monster that hangs around the Tomb, or maybe we can just relax and go on the Selbina boat, or-"

"No thanks Drak, I'm pretty tired…" She pushed his arm off her waiste nonchalantly and was desperately trying to hold on to whatever patience she had left. Using her hammer to break his hand sounded pretty good right about now, too bad her white-mage code was pretty strict against needless violence.

Drak looked as if she had taken his heart and smashed it (again) but she really wasn't in the mood for this. " You know, Fey… I… and um… well you…"

"Not now Drak, please. I'm sorry, I've had a rough day," She sighed and turned towards the rent-a-rooms.

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

_Why won't he just take a hint_. She didn't even bother with a response and decided to keep walking without him.

"… I love you Feyona."

She stopped and looked back at him. _That's it! _"Look., Drak, I DON'T love you. And you don't love me. You love the thought of me. PLEASE just leave me ALONE right now. I TRIED being subtle, but it seems subtly is waisted on you. PLEASE just GO AWAY right now."

Without another word Feyona quickly turned away and stormed to her moghouse before guilt could catch up. She couldn't look at his face. She just was too infuriated to deal with a lecture from her conscience.

She slammed the door in her moghouse and leaned against it for what seemed to be an eternity before letting out a sigh_. I'm sorry Drak… but its time you cried me a river, built a bridge and then got over it._ She finally removed herself from the door only to get to her couch. She laid back and was ready to get some much needed rest.

Her moogle came flying into the room, startled by the loud slam of the door. After assessing the situation and realizing thay he wasn't about to be robbed, the moogle turned gleefully to the couch. "Master! Your home kupo!"

Feyona said nothing, silently wishing for the moogle to spontaneously explode along with it's optimistic tone.

"Master! You have 7 new messages!"

"Hold 'em. No messages tonight. No visitors either."

"Kupo? You ok?"

"Yea.. I just need some silence."

Without another word, the moogle left, and once again, guilt settled in. _Why am I acting like this? All because of a stupid ninja? WHY am I letting one encounter ruin my day_? She closed her eyes. _And why can't I stop thinking about him_?

----------------------

After an hour of laying down, she figured out that sleep was going to escape her. She was already use to late nights, but upon examining the clock she realized it was only 19:00 She sat straight up and slammed her hands to her side frustrated. A black pearl slipped out of her pocket and rolled onto the floor. Feyona reached down and picked it up. "Techography?"

Out of curiosity she turned on the pearl to listen to it if anything but to drown her own thoughts out.

:Phate: OK soo Faligorn, your gunna meet me in the Dunes right?

:Faligorn: Ayup! I know where all the stone monuments are. I'll navigate. Is Chrias coming?

:Phate: Nah, he's already got some and is busy with whatever it is paladins do.

:Faligorn: This is gunna take a while. It requires a lot of traveling. From West Ronfuere to Garlaidge Citadel, to the Necropolis…

Feyona bit her lip. _Hmmm I've always wanted to do that quest… and I can help with traveling_. "Hey guys… um.. I think I can help if you don't mind me tagging along.

:Faligorn: Eh? Who's that?

:Phate: Oh yea! Meet Feyona, she's the white-mage I told ya about earlier… You sure you don't mind Fey?"

:Feyona: Not at all. You guys are going to the dunes right now right? I'll meet you there.

She picked herself up off the couch. "Kupopo?"

The moogle flew in from the other room and flew in a cheerful circle around her. "Kupo master?"

"I'm going out for a bit," she walked towards the door and shot a smile back that the purple winged creature. "I'll probably be gone for a while. I think I have some Melon pies in the cabnet, go help yourself. Alright?"

"Kupo!"

---------------

She sat outside Selbina in the cool evening, waiting for the others to catch up_. Thank god for teleport spells. If you can't teleport, warp, chocobo, or airship to it, it ain't worth going to. _She laughed under her breath.

"What's so funny?"

Feyona recognized the voice and felt a part of her shutter. She calmly looked over her shoulder. "What are you doing here, Tai is it?"

The ninja approached her smoothly, destroying her level of comfort with each step he took. He wasn't looking up at her, but at full moon rising. "I suppose the same thing you are, waiting for Fali and Phate."

"I see." She wrapped her arms around her knees and looked down. _Don't make conversation. I'm here for the quest, not for him to play with._

"You look like shit," Tai still stared up at the sky, a smug smile forming on his face. "Stressed out about something?"

Feyona clenched her fists. _Don't let him get the best of you again. You're better than that._ "It's nothing worth concerning yourself-"

"Who said I was concerned?"

"Nevermind then, don't ask questions you don't want the answers to."

They both remained silent for a moment. Fey decided to use this time to regain her composure until another stream of calm, even words hit Feyona's ear, causing her whole being to shatter in a single instant. "Who was that poor sap who's heart you smashed today?"

_Drak? How does he.._ She stared up at him, seeing his face had indeed turned serious. "What? THAT'S none of your business! How do you know about that?"

"You did it in a public place."

_Damn._ She looked away from him and closed her eyes to keep herself calm, "It's none of your business anyway."

"You seemed pretty angry. Never saw the wrath of a white-mage before. I thought you guys were suppose to share love, not shatter it." For someone who wasn't concerned she believed Taiyang was making this out to be something much bigger than it was.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm also mortal."

"Do you deal with all your love affairs so harshly?"

She looked back up at him. His face was still focused on the moon which only infuriated her more. "WHAT is it about 'It's none of your business' don't you understand?"

The awkward silence set in again, only this time, Feyona couldn't regain her composure. _ Why does he care what I do with my life? Why is he interigating me? What is his problem? Is he… _"Are you testing me or something? Seeing how much I can take before I run away like a sniveling little girl?"

"Why would I test you, Feyona?"

"I don't know, you tell me. You know what? Nevermind, because I know it's an answer you won't give."

Just then, she heard Phates armour clanking. She turned around to see Phate followed by another tall elvaan.. _That must be Faligorn. Perfect timing,_ She stood up quickly and ran towards them relieved to see them.

The new elvaan seemed much younger than Phate, however it was hard for her to guess the age of elvaans due to their long lives. Before Feyona could completely reach them she watched Phate lean over to the younger elvaan and whisper a few words.

The elvaan turned towards Feyona and then back to his black-clad companion. "Wow! This is Feyona? We need more chicks in the linkshell, Phate!"

"Haha back off Fali, She's too old fer ya, youngin." Phate bowed to Feyona and waved a hand towards Faligorn, "Glad ya could make it Fey. Meet Faligorn, our ranger and expert navigator."

She bowed to both Phate and Faligorn. After a few minutes of introductions Feyona turned to the leader of the group. "Are we all that is going?"

Phate nodded. "Yep. Me, you, Fali," he motioned his head to someone who seemed to be standing directly behind Feyona, "and everyone's favorite ninja. First stop is La Theine. Let's go!"

She didn't have to turn around to figure out who it was behind her, though 'favorite' would not have been her word of choice to describe him. "Alright, Gather together." She started chanting her spell and in a flash of light, all four of them disappeared.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Travelling through Ordelle's cave wasn't too bad. She enjoyed Faligorn and Phate's conversations as she followed them. She chimed in whenever she could and was happy with the company. She'd watch the 3 compete in silly competitios on who could kill the most monsters, who could get the most bats to follow them, who could find the infamous Stroper Chyme. Taiyang seemed so different when he was with the other two. He seemed considerably less harsh and even knew what to say to make the other two men burst out into laughter. _So why am I different? Why does he keep trying to destroy me? _

They found their monument and left. It was getting late at night, so the group decided to go for one more monument before disbanding. After a group vote, it was decided on the Pashow Marshlands.

The Marshlands had proven to be a more dangerous journey than expected. During the travels through the marshlands, Feyona had happened to step on a "vine" that happened to be a Marlboro tentacle. The worse part of the whole ordeal was the person who took note of it first was Taiyang, who sliced through the tentacle before it nailed Fey in the back. _Now I owe him one. Yay._

When Faligorn led them to the monument Feyona couldn't help but be astonished.

"Wow… this is beautiful. Look at the flowers!"

Phate took off his helmet admist a laugh. "Yea. GROUP PHOTO!"

Taiyang, Faligorn and Feyona sat down infront of the monument while Phate set his camera. He ran to sit down with them as they posed and the photo was taken.

Feyona felt like crying. It had been a long time since she felt like accepted instead of 'the tag along whitemage'. Infact, the last time she felt is was journeys in-which she accompanied Darc. She had not wanted to be close to anything since his death, and she didn't realze how much she missed moments like these. "Hey Phate, when that photo gets developed, can I get a copy?"

"Yea, you'll all get a copy. But for now, I gotta go. If I don't get home soon the wife is gunna kill me."

The three laughed and waved goodbye to their friend as he casted a warp spell on himself.

"I gotta get goin too ya guys. Promised a friend I'd meet 'em San D'Oria." In a moment, Faligorn waved, and used his Flee ability to get away.

Feyona smiled as she watched Faligorn disappear before turning towards Jeuno's direction and walked.

"Where ya going?" Taiyang's voice echoed from not too far behind her.

"Jeuno I suppose. I'm not tired, so I figured I'd walk."

As she kept walking she turned her head over her shoulders to see Taiyang following her. "Hm? And where are you going?"

"Bastok."

She raised an eyebrow at his apt response. "That's the other way."

"You shouldn't walk out here alone. You might- "

"Step on a malboro vine? I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

Tai's usual leveled voice seemed to fall down in tone. "With what happened in Selbina, one would say I should. Guilt. Anger. Loneliness. You have too many things on your mind, none of which is your own safety. I'm coming with you."

Feyona stopped and turned towards him. "… So you were testing me. Why?"

He stopped on front of her and looked down into her eyes. She felt nervousness creep inside her. _What is it he wants from me?_

"How is it that one who brings such happiness and such comforting wherever she goes can feel so much guilt and sadness inside those blue eyes?"

She narrowed her eyes and could feel the anger growing inside her, "It's my cross to bare Tai, and it's none of your business. I help people because it's something I know how to do. Maybe if you don't expect so much from me, I won't let you down."

"You know how to help people, but do you know how to help yourself?"

"Why… do you care what I think about myself?"

"I just do."

She sighed and looked at the ground. She should be feeling uncomfortable about the close distance between them, but she wasn't. She wasn't even scared. She was vulnerable in every aspect as the stood there, but it could have been worse. He could have been Drak. "Let's just go, ok?"

"To Jeuno?"

"Where else would we go?"

"Anywhere you want."

She looked back up at him. _Fine. Now its Your turn to be tested._ "Ever been to bibiki bay?"

"No…"

"Then lets go."

She started mumbling the spell for teleport Mea. If He was going to hang around and study her, then she had the perfect test in mind. _Two can play this. You want to play mind games? Then its on. I may look sweet, but I Don't lose. Let's see how well you do in my game._

And its time once again for

----------AUTHOR'S NOTES-----------------

Yea. Still proof-reading. BUT this is the last chapter I have to proof read ((thank the gods)) so FROM NOW ON I'LL BE ON THE BALL……. Or atleast around it.

Seems the chapters get longer with each addition. I just get more inspiration to continue writing and become some-what of a detail fanatic. I'm done with this rant for now. )

Taiyang: You didn't let me call Drak a chicken wuss ; ;

Feyona: Get over yerself xD

Taiyang: I remember our first night in bibiki bay…. Rawr::nibbles on fey:

Feyona: TAI stop givin away the damn plot!


	4. Boatrides on Seas of Anger

Disclaimer: Between this chapter and the other 3 before it, I still do not own Final Fantasy. Square enix STILL does. One day….

Oh, I added a few atrisks for this chapter, basically because the names mentioned are that of NPC's. Names are accurate, I assure you, but yea. Just a breif description of who they are.

**Chapter 4: Boatrides on Seas of Anger.**

Unbroken silence settled between the two travelers as they rode their way through the twists and turns of the canyon and pennisula. Feyona was planning her attacks in the back of her mind, not just against Taiyang, but how she was going to one day prove that the people who sell chocobo's at the Crag of Mea where secretly running a mafia ring. Why else would they charge 2000 gil for a 98 gil chocobo?

They rode the beaches of the pennisula with ease, and after ducking through several short caves, they found themselves approaching the bay.

Finally, Taiyang decided to break the silence between the two. "Is this it?" Feyona was sure she heard a bit of disappointment in his voice, but then again, it could have been her imagination. His voice always seemed to be on the same, even level with every word.

"Yes and no. Yes this is Bibiki Bay, and no, this isn't where we are going." Feyona continued to lead them to the docks, where she aptly jumped off the chocobo and smiled at the Mithra infront of her.

"Hey Feyona! Long time no see!" The Mithra purred in delight. "How's fishing been?"

"Why, if it isn't Twse! Same old same old. Gugru Tuna have still elude me. Everytime I thing I have one, turns out it's another angry, over grown crab."

The mithra laughed and looked over Feyona's shoulder to see the male behind her, looking impatient. "You need two tickets for the manaclipper, Fey?"

"A-yup. How much I owe ya now?"

The mithra reached into her pocket and pulled out two clipper tickets. "Aww, its nothing Fey. You're a regular in these parts, and besides, I have never seen you on a date before! You guys look soooo cute!"

Times like these, Feyona truly wished the film in her camera had not been spent. Taiyang looked as if he had just had an aneurism and heart attack simultaneously, and perhaps it was the vengeful part of her heart, but she found herself enjoying it. "Aww, don't we? Thanks sweety! You're the best." She walked pass the jaw-dropped ninja andsat by another mithra who was assigned to watch for the docking boat.. Making sure to appear ever-so-casual, she brought out her fishing rod and casted her line into the water.

Within a few seconds, the ninja seemed to regain his composure and approached the white-mage. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Um, fishing? Duh. A woman has to support herself somehow, and being pious all the time isn't exactly a good money maker. Do you have any idea how much fish-"

"That's not what I meant." Fey could feel Taiyang's eyes burning into the back of her skull, but she kept her eyes fixed on the fishing pole infront of her. Despite her outer appearance, her innerself was throwing a party. _Weeee! Let's ruffle some feathers!_

"Oh, I'm sorry, what did you mean then, sir?"

"You know what I meant" His voice still held even.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm afraid I don't. Mm don't you love full moons? I know I do. Best time to fish. You know, one time on the Selbina boat, I-"

"Feyona. Knock it off. This isn't a date."

"Oh! THAT! Yea, I know."

"So, why did you-"

Taiyang's question was cut off by the creaking of an approaching vessel. Feyona reeled in her line and stood at the edge of the pier. She looked over to the mithra who was on post. "Hey Fheli Lapatzuo, which boat is this?"

"Purgonorgo Isle. Please have your manaclipper tickets out."

Feyona pulled out her two tickets and walked onto the boat. She looked back at the ninja, seeing he had decided not to follow. "The manaclipper waits for NOONE! Hurry up and get on!"

"…"

"I thought you said you were going to follow me because I didn't care enough about my safety? Well, I assure you, where this boat goes, the monsters are stronger than anything in Pashow or Rolanberry."

"Hpmh, are you testing me, little girl? Seeing if abide by my word?"

"Oh come on, why would I test you, Taiyang?"

He smirked and walked onto the manacliipper. "I've heard those words before, though I believe the name was different."

The boat started it journey into the open waters, and as soon as it was far enough away from the dock that no being could possibly jump back onto it, Feyona screamed at the top of her lungs, "See you later Twse! Wish me luck on my DATE!"

------------------------

Taiyang paced behind Feyona, which had started to distract her from her fishing. She loved these waters, they were always loaded with fish, but everytime she got a bite, she was too distacted by the pounding of Taiyang's heavy boots to reel it in in time.

After the fifth escaped fish, she finally turned around to him. "Something on your mind?"

"No."

"Then stop pacing. It's annoying."

"Not my fault your easy to distract."

"Actually, right now, it is."

She turned back to the water and baited her hook, only to hear Taiyang's pacing continue. "Will you PLEASE just sit down? Or perhaps you'd like something to play with."

"Eh? What's that suppose to mean?"

She casted her line back into the water. "You'll see." Within a few minutes she felt something strong pulling on her line. Times like these she would usually just let the line go, but this time she was using all her strength to reel it in.

The fish yanked hard, and made Feyona lose her balance, making her hit the side of the railing hard. Behind her, she heard soft laughter. "Need help with that?"

"NO, I DO NOT need help!" She braced her leg on the railing itself and used all her strength, flipping back the pole and the catch with it. A vicous clot landed in a squish between herself and the ninja. Before she had time to react, Taiyang already had his twin katanas out and had assaulted the monster. She watched the battle, converned for Taiyang's safety. He was too fast for the monster, and even when it did land a hit, it would only go through a shadow. Within a few minutes the coagulated beast was turned into a puddle of nasty red ooze. She didn't know why, but she was happy Taiyang had gotten through without a scratch.

When Taiyang sheathed his katanas, Feyona stuffed the happy feeling away. It was a perfect opertunity to land an attack of her own. She built up the most innocent, little girl voice she could find. "Aww, how sweet. What would I ever do without you?"

"Stop… talking like that.." Taiyang turned to look at her, his face seemed to be growing darker.

Despite his silent waring, Feyona continued her façade. "You're a really strong man, just like I'd hoped!" She turned around to a mithra who was relaxing right outside the captain's cabin."Hey Chalahko! Did ya see that?"

Knots Chalahko lifted her head and smiled at the two passengers. "Haha, Yea Ms. Feyona. You guys datin or is this a social thing?"

"Hehehe, ohhh you never know!" She winked over in Knots' direction and smiled wide.

The mithra outside the cabin door laughed under her breath. "I'll give you your privacy then." She stood up, bowed slightly, and entered the captain's cabin.

When Feyona turned back to Taiyang, she could tell he was passed infuriated. She retained her calm, optimistc look and went back to her railing. As she reached for her fishing pole she felt a strong grasp her wriste whip her around. Before she could scream she found herself staring up into two very unhappy brown eyes.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing?" Whatever calm his voice held before seemed to disintegrate.

"Are you blind? I'm FISH-"

His grasp tightened harder. "Don't EVEN say it! Why did you take me here? Why do you keep telling those people we're INVOLVED."

_Perfect._ She raised her eyebrow at his accusing tone"Why are you so angry? I thought ninja's weren't suppose to show their feelings! I thought ninja's didn't care what people thought of them!" She mocked his smirk from her memory of the Crawler's Nest. "I am interested to see how ninja's work. I think I can corrupt you." She paused for a moment, giving him a moment to let her words sink into him. "You look like shit, something stressing you out?"

He let her go and turned away harshly. "I'm leaving when this thing lands. You should do the same thing, weakling. I no longer care not whether you live or die. You can't corrupt-"

"Its not fun getting your mind fucked with, is it? Not fun being the target of a stereotype. It's not fun being tested for your weaknesses. Its certainaly not fun to be tested against your will." She turned around and casted her line back in the water. "Worse of all, it makes you begin to doubt youself when it is a complete stranger is pulling the strings."

After a moment of silence, her line yanked hard again. She braced herself and began reeling. "Ah! Come on lil bugger!"

"I won't defend you." Taiyang's voice seemed to return to normal, but she didn't doubt his words.

"Yea, I know." She kept tugging hard, trying to get the upper hand on the fish.

"Then why are you bringing it in? These monsters are too strong-"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." After a minute of struggling, she finally flipped her pole back, and at the end of the line was a huge Gugru Tuna. "Ha! OooOoo You kept trying to fool me, pretending to be a monster, but ha! I win! Haha Biggest fish I caught up-to-date!"

Taiyang watched her, not seeming so angry as before. He thought on her words, her test, and finally smirked. "Hmph. Nice catch. How about we make a deal."

Feyona paused her celebrating and looked at Taiyang questioningly. "I believe it's against the white-mage code to make a deal with the devil, iunno... I have to consult the Book of Atlana."

He "hmph"ed sarcastically. "It's just a simple test. You pass it, it will be the last test I put you through. You see, I don't offer my protection to just anyone. I want you to prove something to me. If you can…" He walked up to the catch she had just rolled in. "I'll help ya carry this thing."

_You know, I never thought about what I was gunna do after I caught the biggest fish… I don't think I can carry it… _"So what exactly do you want me to "prove" to you?"

"Prove to me that you hold a power worth protecting."

She stared at him for a moment. _How the hell does he want me to do that?_ Seeing he had nothing more to say, she turned around back to her railing and rested her elbows on it.

"I'm not physically strong. Sometimes, I'm not even emotionally strong. I failed my best friend when he needed me most because I was afraid of the demons he was going to fight. I always feel I'm on the outside looking in." She turned around back to Taiyang. "But that's Feyona. Feyona the mortal. Maybe it is because of your ninja training you see me as a weakling for showing my feelings. You're wrong. It's because I acknowledge them, and learn to feel both pain and pleasure, that I will be, no, that I am a stronger person."

She took a breath and looked at the moon. "Any person with half a cent of wit can go out and hurt a person. Any two bit fighter can go out and take a life. It takes someone with true power to heal both physical and mental wounds, it takes a person with true power to bring a life back, and that's a gift the Goddess has bestowed upon me. You were right Tai, I am an emotional wreck. I see people die and get hurt every day. But I am willing to sacrifice my own happiness if it can help soo many others" She paused and met her eyes with Taiyang's. "I am mortal. I can be revengeful, bitchy, and damned right horrible, but all the pain I cause I cause out of good intention. I hope you learned a little something about hurting tonight, I hope you acknowledge the pain, and I hope you think about it the next time you inflict it upon someone else."

Taiyang stared hard into her. When she had finished her rant, his serious face began to grow into a devious smirk. "Do you always talk so much?"

Feyona's eyes shot open in surprise. "I… er.. How dare you! You wanted me to prove-"

He picked up the fish and looked at the land that had approached. "I was about to fall asleep. Next time just write a book with a summary."

Feyona's mind started searching frantically to remember the words for the spell called 'Holy', that is, until it had hit her that he was carrying the fish she had caught. _I… won? Ha!_ She couldn't stop the smirk that had begun to grow on her face, not that she wanted to. "Maybe I will, didn't think ya could read though."

The sound of the cabin door being opened drew the attention of the two travelers to the approaching mithra. Knots looked nervous, as if she knew she had interrupted something."Purgonorgo isle is approaching. Please have a seat while we dock the boat."

The two travelers nodded to the mithra and took a seats near eachother. Taiyang set the fish down beside his feet while Feyona fumbled for words. "You still leaving after we dock? Purgonorgo is really nice…"

Taiyang crossed his arms and laid back. "I suppose I can't. Gotta carry your fish-thing."

"Damn straight you do!" She burst out laughing. "And don't let it go bad!"

"Don't worry, it's not the fish I'm out to corrupt." He smirked at her.

She stood up infront of him, semi-offended. "Yea, about that. Get THAT thought OUT of your head RIGHT N-"

The boat made a huge thump noise as it came to a stop infront of the dock. The motion jerked Feyona so suddenly that she fell on her knees. Her hands fell to either side of Taiyang's waist and her face ended up just just inches away his.

He looked down at her. As raised an eyebrow and decided to take back the upper hand.. "Why Fey-fey, I didn't know you cared!"

She blushed and pushed herself away from him. "My name is FEYONA, and I don't!"

--------Authors Notes---------

Tswe Paniphr- NPC in bibiki bay. Fishing guild runs the manaclipper boats, and this is the mithra you buy tickets from.

Fheli Lapatzuo- The npc mithra at the edge of the dock in Bibiki bay which informs passangers which trip they are about to go on.

Knots Chalahko- NPC mithra, Tour guide on the Manaclipper.

I dedicated a lot of this chapter to fishing, because there is a lot of truth in it. As a whm, I rarely pl unless I need to skill up healing ((personal believe, takes away from other players skill)), I NEVER accept money for raising ppl, and I only charge for teleports if I am really short on cash. Back in the early days of White magery, I started fishing for money. :hugz fishing pole.:

BTW Thank you for the reviews they make me warm and fuzzy inside. I like the critcism as well as the good. This is the first I have decided to write something that isn't required to pass a class. I really do need to proofread my work better, and I do appreciate all the tips you put out. It's the only way I'll learn from my mistakes  Thank you :ends hugs through her computer onto YOU, THE READER!

Taiyang: I soooo got the upperhand at the end of this chapter.

Feyona: ….

Heather: Jenn, Told you ppl would notice you wouldn't proof read. We had English together in college. I sense a F in your future.

Feyona: … ooh yea. I hated English class….

:Feyona grabs the phone and Dials a number: "Drak? Yea It's me… please not right now, I need you to kill 2 very mean ppl…. Actually yes, one IS my boyfriend….Um, we'll discuss terms of engagement later."

Taiyang: I'm still here ya know….

Heather:So you're the one who keeps sending assassins after me….


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